Clergy Notes — March 23, 2025
Next Tuesday, March 25th, is the Feast of the Annunciation. The church celebrates the encounter between the Virgin Mary and the angel Gabriel. Mary is told that she has earned God’s favour and will receive a special blessing from Him. She is to be the mother of His son, the one who is to reign over the House of Jacob.
I wonder if it really felt like a blessing and a sign of divine favour? A very young woman, totally inexperienced in the ways of the world, to be pregnant before her wedding day? No wonder she said, “How can this be?”
This is why I like the picture of this scene that hangs in the Blessed Sacrament chapel here at St James’. It is by Botticelli and the original hangs in the Uffizi gallery in Florence. Mary’s face conveys a mixture of astonishment and fear. She tries to avoid the gaze of the angel. But Gabriel is undeterred. He lowers his face and tries to catch her before she looks away and refuses. Of course, we know the end of the story. Mary, having been assured of God’s help, declares that she is the Lord’s servant.
But Botticelli helps us to relate to the humanity of a real person – the emotions that we would all feel at being asked to take on such a task. And this leads us to ask for the guidance and protection of the Holy Spirit, granted to Mary.
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Holy Spirit will cover you with its shadow. Nothing is impossible with God.”
Fr. Neil Gray